The Possibility of Evil

This story is told in the third-person perspective of its main character, Miss Adela Strangeworth. We have access to her thoughts but not to those of any other character. Except for a moment near the story’s end, when the focus turns to Linda Stewart and to Dave Harris—a pair of local teenagers—we are entirely in Miss Strangeworth’s world.

The smallness and oddity of this world becomes increasingly apparent as the story unfolds. The usage of third-person narration allows us to see Miss Strangeworth from a distance, and to see the difference between the way she regards herself and the way that others regard her. Miss Strangeworth sees herself as a figurehead and an embodiment of local history; her elevated conception of herself is evident in everything that she thinks and does. Linda Stewart, meanwhile, regards her as a simple cheapskate, as is evident in her comment, “Catch old lady Strangeworth sending anybody a check” (427). The comment’s offhanded and bitter tone suggests that this view of Miss Strangeworth is popular, and that Linda is perhaps repeating something that she has overheard many times.